Indonesia as the biggest archipelago in the world is blessed with numbers of islands. One of the beautiful islands is Belitung Island. Located in North Sumatra offshores, Belitung Island is rich with beautiful natural scenery, distinctive traditions and festival and also local food and souvenir.

Makan Bedulang Tradition

The local people of Belitung Island have one unique eating tradition called Makan Bedulang tradition. The tradition literary means eat using dulang; for local people dulang is a wide and round tray. At first, dulang was made from wood; the iron sheeting tray was then introduced in 1950. The emergence of dulang tradition is predicted to have strong relation with the Moslem tradition in Belitung Island. The tradition of Makan bedulang includes four people who sit around the round tray. They eat accordingly to the certain manner. In general, makan Bedulang tradition is held on special occasions such as wedding or baby birth. This tradition is also a way for parents to communicate with the children and teach them manner. In the round tray, there are several plates with side dishes and rice is served in separated plate.

Commonly, the kind of side dishes provide in Makan Bedulang tradition is depended on the local sources such as gangan darat, squid, fish satay, sambal and other unique culinary. Makan bedulang tradition is a portrayal of togetherness, tolerance, respect to the elders, and gratefulness. The sitting position of the tradition becomes the best sitting position while eating. Nowadays, not only the local people can enjoy the tradition, as the tourism grows bigger, the visitors can also enjoy the Makan Bedulang tradition but still following the manner.

Rumpun Sebalai Festival

This annual festival which held in Bangka Belitung Archipelago is a dance parade. Unlike the other dance parade, Rumpun Sebalai festival is a modern dance which originated from authentic Belitung dance. The participants come from 10 provinces in Sumatra Island.

Shopping venue

As other tourist destination, Belitung Island offers genuine crafts and culinary which can only be found in the island. You can buy some crafts and sacks for gifts. One of the famous souvenirs is Satam; this is a black stone usually used for jewelry. This is the authentic stone from Belitung Island; the special thing from this stone is naturally carved motive in various shapes. According to the local people, believe that the stone was originated from an asteroid that fall in the island a long time ago. During the Netherland colonization, the stone was known as billitonite.

If you are culinary travelers, this island provides lots of snack choices which rich with local taste. The famous snacks are krupuk Belitung which made from seafood such as fish, shrimp, and squid. Belacan Belitung or known as shrimp paste is a kind of traditional spices which made from pounded and fermented shrimp or small fish. Belacan Belitung has different taste from other belacan in other places since it is made from fresh shrimp. Sambal Lingkong is also famous among the tourists since it is delicious. The sambal is made from mackerel fish, chili and coconut.